Dave H

BDLRM update - no turns last night due to bad weather. I've found that when the electricity goes out it makes it more trouble than it's worth to process turns. Unfortunately, it seems the weather front that had been a couple of hundred miles north of us has now settled squarely over the Ohio River. The forecast is for stormy weather every day for the next week. Patience, maggots, I'll get back to squashing you like cicadas ASAP. Axe, I'm afraid your sign would cause a cyber lynching on the GF, with you as guest of honor. If any of you ever get into politics, remember the invaluable lesson that a few tax cuts will create mindless loyalty, no matter what else you do. :mad:

Snarker, the cicadas have arrived here. My wife had a meeting in Louisville yesterday (at Locust Grove, appropriately enough). She said the noise was like a spaceship had landed, and she said they were just swarming. I could hear some on my way to work this morning, every time I passed a stand of trees. Fortunately, since we live in a new subdivision, I don't think we'll have too many in our yard. I wish all of you could hear it - I promise you it's unlike any sound you've ever heard. They won't be back again until 2021. GRARGHRARGHRAARGHRARR!!!

Who has time for that? :confused: :confused: </font>

Don't worry Kitty, I'm sure he's out there somewhere. We'll leave a candle burning in the window for him. Someday, when he overcomes all the disasters his life seems to be filled with, he'll come back again. Of course, we'll probably be playing Combat Mission XXXV by then, with full scale holographic men, equipment, and terrain. A heirarchy? Here? I'm sure a wise olde <font size=1>penguin</font size=1> like yourself can perceive the underlying order beneath the transparent veneer of chaos on the surface. Please be so kind as to educate us poor unwashed slobs. We wait for you to enlighten us with your infinite wisdom. Maggot!

I seem to recall Kitty talked him into posting once a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, he seemed to get tired of Combat Mission and went on to some other game about a year ago. Not that it made much difference in his turn rate in PBEMs! I miss the maggot too. He was always so worked up about something.

Maggots, sorry no BDLRM turns made it out yesterday. I finished most of the turns but decided the e-mails could wait until this evening. I did manage a nice little surprise for one of Wallybob's Easy Eights, which was very much fun for me. Snarker had a bit of a surprise, too, with his Hellcat & Chaffee charge. If any of you feel like you're really bogged down and want to stop, let me know and I'll offer a cease-fire. I probably should have made this gamey scenario an Allied assault, so I'd have had more targets!

Please, no more pictures like that. I'm offended! :eek: :mad: Congratulations to Mike for a minor victory in our Crete scenario. His Kiwis managed to hold their position against the my German paratroops, who were slaughtered like sheep. I wonder if there's a connection? Nah!! I'll blame my "air support" for the loss, since I had no control over it. The Luftwaffe managed to kill several of my men, after we knocked out the anti aircraft guns to make their job easier. Thanks for nothing, Fatso Goering.

Hey, wait a minute! I appreciate legal loopholes, too, you know. I just haven't had to create any in the last year or so. All BDLRM turns out again. Let's see, here is the number of turns completed so far: PseudoSimonds - 17, Axe - 15, Keke - 11, Wallybob - 11, Snarker - 10, Robohn - 10, Teddy Windsor - 8, Thermopylae - 7, _Uxcva - 5, Lurkur - 3, Mike - 3, and Tugboat - 1. No Allies have made it off the north edge yet, maggots! Well, except for Wallybob's A-10 or Apache or B-52 or whatever it was. Ha, ha, ha!!!

Well dang, some of them folks was even smart enuff to move here from Chicago, y'all. Something about too much cold weather, too many people, too much traffic, and prices too high. Big city snob maggot!!! :mad: :mad: :mad: [ May 21, 2004, 09:37 AM: Message edited by: Dave H ]

I love it when a plan comes together. Sorry that I didn't have time last night for any BDLRM turns. I had to attend a fund raising event last night with Becky - all right, actually she got me in free so I could rub shoulders with the local intelligentsia and sample food from about 20 local restaurants. I know, I know; you're all thinking it was a tough way to spend the evening. We all have our crosses to bear. Mike, I've got to contact my ISP - your e-mails seem to be sailing right past them again. Is it possible there's such a thing as mutton SPAM? By the way, the insouciant Teddy Windsor is willing to forward your e-mails if there are any more problems.

Whenever I think I'm wasting my life, I'll remember this guy and realize my life could be so much worse!

Oh yeah, and one player had his men stand on top of a rocky hill while machine guns and mortars chopped them down. The only problem is I suspect we didn't hurt you enough. :eek:

<font size=6>Good Morning, Maggots!!</font size=6> Let's hear it for Randy Johnson, proving once again that guys older than 40 are not over the hill. He pitched a perfect game last night against the Atlanta Braves, only the 17'th in the history of major league baseball, out of hundreds of thousands of games. 27 batters up, 27 batters out. Way to go, Big Unit!! Mike, do your worst. My Germans will survive anything short of a neutron bomb. I'm curious to see what mayhem you're waiting for. So far every single BDLRM player has adopted different tactics, and very different weapons. One player has mostly infantry with a couple of tanks in support. One has used an airplane, which had enough firepower to destroy my defenders almost single-handedly. One has some Sherman 105s blasting away at likely defensive positions from 1,200 meters. Another had his Sherman 105s charge up close to provide supporting fire. Several players went first class and have 76 mm Sherman Easy Eights moving up. Another had Hellcats run in close, only to have one lose a short range, one on one shootout. Guys, you really make this game fun for me. Thanks for playing, regardless of what happens.

Hey, what kind of lame excuse is that? Haven't you explained to your commanding officer that you have obligations, and right now you just can't squeeze in time for the Air Force? I'm sure the DoD will understand. Anyone seen Thermopylae lately? I haven't had a chance to blow up any of his armored cars or tanks for a while. While it's fun destroying armor and shooting infantry for the rest of you maggots, I don't want Thermopylae left out.

Guys, I think there's some confusion here between two different board games. Battleline originally published "Flat Top" long ago. Avalon Hill eventually bought out Battleline and published some of their games, including "Flat Top", "Dauntless", and "Air Force". Yaquinto published their own very similar game, titled "CV". The mechanics of the games were similar. "Flat Top" covered the Solomon Islands campaign, while "CV" covered the Battle of Midway. I never actually played "CV", but I had the fun of playing "Flat Top" several times. I still remember how the Allied aircraft based in New Guinea could barely make it over the mountains to attack the Japanese base on the northern coast. Speaking of Yaquinto reminds me of some of their other titles. I had "Panzer", "88", and "Armor", which had the most detailed armor rules of any game I ever played. They were amazing, and I'm sure glad "Combat Mission" has let the computer take care of the entire shot resolution process. If "Modern Naval Battles" does well, I'd sure like to see a similar computer card game based on another old Yaquinto board game. That would be their wonderful "Ironclads" game. This card system looks like it would work very well with the naval warfare of the American Civil War period. Of course, I'd love to see a "Combat Mission" level game of the ironclads, too.

And a lovely Cheery Waffle Good Morning to you, too! Are you just mad because the Blue Jays keep winning and the Sox are overpaid underperforming LOSERS? :eek: :mad: :mad: Mike, I recall last year you opened your attack in the BDLRM with a massive rocket bombardment. Do you have something similar up your sleeve this time around? :eek: :eek: :eek:

I have to admit, foxholes and trenches just don't help much against shell bursts directly overhead. Snarker has done some serious damage, the maggot! :mad: :mad:

Turns out to all BDLRM participants who could get an e-mail past my watchful ISP. As far as I know, I'm caught up with everybody. Since Mike is having problems getting e-mails to me, would any of you fine people volunteer to serve as a middleman for Mike until this is resolved. For some reason the difficulty seems to come and go and right now it's very, very bad. Axe, what's the deal with the GF? I had a very interesting discussion today with several people, including Jim Boy Boggs and Lurkur. Not to mention the odd raving lunatics.

So you beating Axe's pixelated maggots is a nebulous ideal, not something real? If hospital isn't a place, how do the doctors and nurses know where to work each day? How do patients know where to find the doctors and nurses? Or is this all somehow related to the dreaded UK and Canadian "socialized medicine"? :confused:

Quite a story. He certainly doesn't look his age. Thanks for posting the link. How come you cut off the top of his head in the photo? Another question: why do Americans say "to the hospital", but British and Canadians say "to hospital"? Do you say you go "to theater (or theatre)", or "to store", or "to bathroom"? What's the deal? :confused: :confused:

Snarker, sorry to disappoint, but I haven't seen or heard a single cicada yet. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Are you sure that guy who ate 30 of them wasn't from the fine town of Indiana, Pennsylvania? Who knows which university is there? Nobody here, that's for sure! BTW Snarker, did you know there's no town in Indiana named Pennsylvania? In other news, BDLRM turns are out to all 12 players. Mike even managed to slip an e-mail through my ISP; I'll have to call and complain Monday. Players are at various stages, with Mike and Tugboat (who had technical problems with his Mac) still on Turn 1, while Pseudo has zoomed through 11 turns and has the columns of Allied smoke to prove it. On a totally unrelated subject, who is the bigger idiot: Axe or Kitty? They seem to be in a neck and neck race to prove how many brain cells they've pickled. Much like the late, lamented Mike_the_wino, who can't even remember how to use a computer anymore. One more subject even further afield: I just spent 219 minutes watching the movie "Gods and Generals". What a waste!! I feel dirty and gooey all over, like I spent over three hours floating in a cotton candy machine. I thought the movie was so sickeningly sweet I was debating whether to turn it off. I kept hoping it might improve. It did not. The acting was uniformly of bad Little Theater quality, and the score was nauseating. Yuck!! I hope Ted Turner gets off his little vanity movie kick. :mad:

If I start seeing JS-IIs in Italy I'm going to suspect foul play. GRARGHRARRGH!! :mad: :mad: Good luck on getting your computer repaired. As an emergency fix maybe you can install CMAK on Paula's computer while yours is in the shop?

That is entirely possible. However, unlike your poor British infantrymen, I am not under a barrage of mortar and machine gun fire at the moment. Some of them don't sound very happy! I can't imagine why. Well, to top off a less-than-sterling week, I'm off to the dentist's office for an hour or two. Why is that such an unnerving thought? GRARGHRARRGHRAARGHRRR!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Is it my imagination, or didn't anybody have anything to say? That exchange between Axe maggot and Keke maggot was really discouraging. Turns out to all BDLRM players. Mike, I'll try explaining to my ISP that there actually are people who live in New Zealand, and it would be nice to receive e-mail from them sometimes. I don't know if that will change anything or not. Anyone waiting for a turn?

I knew there was a good reason to sign with my internet provider. I'm guessing it's all the wool in your e-mails that keeps bouncing. Or maybe you only imagined sending an e-mail, like you're imagining holding Crete! Kiwi maggot! It's been a rough week so far - I was off sick the last two days and felt so bad I didn't even turn on the computer until last night. I managed to get turns out to all twelve BDLRM maggots. Then I came in to work this morning, still feeling pretty rotten, and discovered TWO of my co-workers died this morning. One had cancer, the other had a heart attack. Even in a place with 2,500 people, it still shakes you.